Portable computing devices such as laptop computers, personal data assistants (PDAs), smart phones and the like are in common usage, many featuring data communications support, powerful processors, larger and more colorful displays, and wireless networking and internet browsing capabilities. These advances in mobile technology have resulted in a dramatic increase in the volume of data communicated on wireless networks. These advances, coupled with subscribers seeking expanded mobility, will drive subscribers install and run data-hungry applications on their mobile devices. Data traffic is growing due to a combination of increasing market share of data-centric portable devices such as IPHONE™ and BLACKBERRY™ devices, lower wireless data subscription costs, higher wireless data throughput, and easier mobile access to data-intensive applications and rich content such as video. These trends are driving ever-increasing demands for wireless data communications.
Typically, users gain access to wireless data networks by purchasing a subscription plan from a service provider. In response to the explosive growth in mobile data traffic, service providers currently offer a wide variety of wireless subscription plan features such as actual usage plans, flat-rate plans, bandwidth caps that limit the amount of data per month for a mobile device, pre-paid and post-paid data plans. These plans typically impose limits on subscriber bandwidth consumption, often combined with additional fees for exceeding those limits. Bandwidth caps can alleviate network congestion by reducing overall mobile data traffic, but these caps reduce the attractiveness of data service for subscribers.
In a flat rate subscription plan a subscriber pays a fee for a billing cycle and is entitled to a set amount of network usage (i.e., a usage quota) during the billing cycle. For example, a subscriber may pay $30 for a month and be entitled to 500 minutes of network time. The usage quota can be specified as a time per billing cycle amount (e.g., 500 minutes per month) or as a data volume per billing cycle amount (e.g., 40 Mega Bytes per month). In some flat rate subscription plans, the usage quota is unlimited.
In an actual usage subscription plan a subscriber pays a set rate based on the actual amount of network usage during a billing cycle. For example, a user may pay $1 per minute of network usage. Actual usage plans can have incentives/penalties based on a subscriber's usage during a billing cycle. For example, in a subscription plan a subscriber may pay $1 per Mega Byte (MB) for the first 50 MBs and $2 per Mega Byte (MB) for every MB used beyond 50 MBs during the billing cycle. Subscription plans can combine aspects of flat rate plans and usage plans. For example, a subscriber may pay $30 per month for 40 MBs of wireless data usage and $1 per MB for every minute used after 40 MBs.
In the plans described above, as well as other subscriber plans, it is useful for a subscriber to be able to monitor his/her usage against one or more quotas.
Given the increasing versatility of mobile devices, it is helpful to implement a means by which these mobile devices can be used to monitor and control data communication costs, and to improve the subscriber experience.
Previous methods for network data communications cost monitoring and control are largely provider-centric, leaving the user with limited options to control and monitor costs. For example, a subscriber may be able to display cumulative consumption in MBs for the current month to determine if a monthly quota has been exceeded, but the subscriber cannot dynamically control and manage data communications costs without permanently changing his/her subscription plan. Provider-centric systems monitor usage and may allow subscribers to access usage information via a provider's web server, but they do not allow subscribers to set real time usage controls. For example, provider-centric systems do not allow subscribers to set data usage thresholds, quotas, or caps on their devices each day based upon prior usage. Prior network data control techniques result in extra charges (i.e., due to roaming) and surprise data charges for subscribers who exceed bandwidth caps.
In prior systems, subscribers must rely on providers to monitor and control data usage. When a portable device moves to another provider network (i.e., roam), the amount of data usage information is limited to what the network the device is roaming in provides. For example, subscribers may not know what data charges (i.e., tariffs) apply while roaming. Prior techniques can result in excessive fees for subscribers who have unknowingly exceeded their plan's data quotas or caps. Subscribers cannot dynamically manage and control data costs for current data connections from their portable devices. In prior systems, subscribers only have data usage information in terms of overall volume of data used for all applications on a device, rather than the amount of data user per application. This lack of device-centric control and transparency limits the subscriber experience and causes subscribers to unnecessarily curtail their data usage.
What is therefore needed are systems and methods for providing device-based data communications cost monitoring and controls on a per application basis. What is further needed are systems and methods to allow subscribers to monitor and control expenditures on data services by providing proactive notification when subscribers are approaching bandwidth caps. What is also needed are systems and methods to allow subscribers to modify their plans either temporarily or permanently depending on their needs by providing add-on service availability (i.e., the ability to dynamically raise a bandwidth cap temporarily).